Sew Up A Turkey After Stuffing It

Trussing a turkey helps keep in the stuffing.

Once you've completed the messy job of stuffing a turkey, you're faced with the dilemma of keep all the stuffing in the bird. The answer is trussing, the sewing up of the cavity of the turkey. Cookbooks prescribe various methods of trussing a bird. All involve tying it up with twine to form a compact package which cooks more evenly. With a little practice, you can have the turkey tied up in no time and all the delicious stuffing secured.

Instructions

Sewing the Cavity

1. Set the turkey on the counter with the opening to the stuffed chest cavity facing you. Locate the flap of skin that once encased the turkey's neck. Fold this down over the opening and the stuffing.

2. Pierce the skin on the right side of this flap with the sharp point of a metal skewer. Slide the skewer over and into the flap. Thread the skewer back out of the flap and through the skin on the left side of the slap. Position the skewer so that you have one end of the skewer sticking out on each side of the turkey.

3. Repeat the above process with a second skewer, positioned 1 inch below the first skewer. Add a third skewer if necessary, 1 inch below the second.

4. Cut a piece of kitchen twine 2 feet long. Lay the twine with the center over the center of the top skewer. Bring the ends of the twine beneath the ends of the top skewer.

5. Cross the string over the top of the second skewer and bring the ends around and under the ends of the second skewer. Cross the ends again and lace under the ends of the third skewer. Bring the ends together a final time and tie a knot. Cut the excess string.

Trussing the Bird

6. Set your stuffed turkey on a clean counter top, breast side up. Grasp the wings at the second joints (the elbow) and tuck the wings under the bird.

7. Cut a piece of clean cotton string on cooking twine approximately 4 feet long. Place the middle of the string beneath the short stub of the turkey tail.

8. Cross the string over the top of the tail and wrap the ends of the string around the ends of the drumsticks. Cross the string again and pull it tight so the drumsticks cross. This will help keep the stuffing in the bird. Wrap the string across the thighs, binding them securely to the side of the bird's body.

9. Turn the bird over, breast down. Find the ends of your string and run them beneath the first joint of the folded back wings. Fold the flap of skin down over the neck of the bird. Cross the ends of the string and tie a secure knot to hold the neck flap in place. Snip off excess string, but leave a couple of inches on either side to make it easier to find the string once the bird in baked.

Tags: Cross string, keep stuffing, second skewer, Bring ends, Cross ends, Cross string over, down over